Russian ships to evacuate expats stranded in Syria

Ellen Barry, Moscow and Martin Chulov, Beirut

RUSSIA has dispatched warships to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, its defence ministry announced, in what appeared to be preparation for the evacuation of Russian citizens from Syria.

The news came as thousands of Palestinians fled Damascus after an attack on the country's largest refugee camp, according to survivors who have reached Lebanon.

Russian officials began formulating plans during the northern summer for an evacuation, but have delayed making public announcements, analysts say, to avoid signalling a loss of confidence in President Bashar al-Assad.

A large number of Russian citizens are scattered across Syria, a result of decades of intermarriage and longstanding economic ties.

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On Monday, Russian diplomats said two Russian citizens had been kidnapped by an armed group. The two - steel factory workers - were seized as they travelled on a road between Homs and Tartus and were held for ransom. An Italian citizen, Mario Belluomo, was abducted along with them.

A flotilla of five ships - a destroyer, a tugboat, a tanker and two large landing vessels - is being sent from Baltiysk, on the Baltic Sea, to relieve ships that have been in waters near Syria for months.

A second group was sent from Severomorsk, on the Kola Bay in north-western Russia. At typical cruising speeds for such vessels, both groups would arrive on station around the start of January.

The fallout from the attack on the Yarmouk refugee camp in south-west Damascus on Sunday is now reaching beyond Syria's borders, with Lebanon and Jordan braced for a fresh refugee crisis.

About 1000 Palestinians reached Lebanon less than 48 hours after a Syrian jet bombed a mosque and a school inside Yarmouk. The air strike is believed to have killed about 25 people and wounded several dozen more.

The new arrivals say they fear that authority in the Syrian capital is starting to crumble.

''No Palestinian will trust them any more after what they did on Sunday,'' said father of three Abu Khalil. ''Since the [northern] summer, the two intelligence bases in the camp, Air Force intelligence and Political Security, were opened as recruitment centres for anyone who wanted to join Ahmed Jibril,'' Mr Khalil said. ''Anyone who did was given a gun.''

Ahmed Jibril runs the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, a faction which has for decades been loyal to the Assad regime and is hostile to the main Palestinian organisational body, the PLO.

About 3000 members of the Free Syrian Army and the Islamist Jabhat al-Nusra are now inside the camp, Mr Khalil said.

He claimed only 500 residents remain, with most having sought refuge in homes, schools and mosques elsewhere in Damascus.

''Jibril had about 1000 armed supporters, but only 150 of them were fighting with him on Sunday,'' he said. ''They fled after a few hours.

''Some of the rebels who came in after the attack spoke with strange dialects. Others had beards, like jihadists. They were all telling us not to worry. It was the first time we had seen any opposition member in Yarmouk.''

Mr Khalil's mother, Umm Hassan, said warnings broadcast from mosques in Yarmouk early on Sunday had given residents two hours to leave.

Many had done just that, she said. Others sought refuge in a mosque and remained behind. Syrians who had fled from battle zones elsewhere in Syria were staying in a nearby school. They also chose to stay. Both groups were hit by bombs dropped from jets.

''Three weeks ago we watched the ugly scenes as the Israelis bombed Gaza. We know what to expect with them,'' Mr Khalil said. ''But I can't describe the feeling of Muslims attacking Muslims. It was a historical moment.'' Palestinian leaders in Beirut say they are braced for the arrival of 50,000 refugees from Yarmouk, an influx that would strain resources inside Lebanon's 12 established camps.

Unlike in Lebanon, Syria's Palestinians had largely enjoyed equal rights as citizens, with access to homes and healthcare. NEW YORK TIMES, GUARDIAN